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Alexander Smukler
Alexander Smukler (born 1960) is a Soviet-born American businessman, who is the chairman of the board of Agroterminal LTD and the chairman of the board of Century 21: Russia, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine. He is a former managing partner of Ariel Investment Group, which develops commercial enterprises and civil engineering projects in Russia. Smukler is a former refusenik who advocated for the rights of Jews in the former Soviet Union. He left the Soviet Union in 1991 and moved to the United States, where he became a prominent member of the American Jewish community and continued his activism on behalf of Jews from the former Soviet Union. Smukler was elected president of National Coalition Supporting Eurasian Jewry in 2008. Early life The Smukler family's ancestry can be traced back for many generations in Russia. The family history is the subject of a book called ''The Tsar’s Drummer: A Story of Courage and Resilience,'' published in 2019. Smukler's mother was a doctor who wo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Coalition Supporting Soviet Jewry
The National Coalition Supporting Eurasian Jewry (NCSEJ), formerly the National Council for Soviet Jewry (NCSJ), is an organization in the United States which advocates for the freedoms and rights of Jews in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic States, and Eurasia. Emerging from the American Jewish Conference on Soviet Jewry, now with a paid staff, it played an important role in the Soviet Jewry movement, including such landmark legislation as Jackson–Vanik amendment. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., it is now an umbrella organization of about 50 national organizations and 300+ local federations, community councils and committees. History NCSEJ comes out of the American Jewish Conference on Soviet Jewry, which first met in October 1963. Among those present were Saul Bellow, Martin Luther King Jr., Herbert Lehman, Bishop James Pike, Walter Reuther, Norman Thomas, and Robert Penn Warren. This was followed in April 1964 by Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry. The AJCSJ was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leon Uris
Leon Marcus Uris (August 3, 1924 – June 21, 2003) was an American author of historical fiction who wrote many bestselling books, including '' Exodus'' (published in 1958) and ''Trinity'' (published in 1976). Uris was a co-founder of the Writers and Artists for Peace in the Middle East, a pro-Israel group. Life and career Uris was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Jewish American parents Wolf William and Anna (née Blumberg) Uris. His father, born in Volkovysk in the Russian Empire (now Vawkavysk, Belarus), was a paperhanger, then a storekeeper. His mother was first-generation Russian American. William spent a year in Palestine after World War I before entering the United States. He derived his last name from Yerushalmi, meaning "man of Jerusalem". (His brother Aron, Leon's uncle, took the name Yerushalmi.) "He was basically a failure", Uris later said of his father. "I think his personality was formed by the harsh realities of being a Jew in Czarist Russia. I think ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Refuseniks
Refusenik (, ; alternatively spelled refusnik) was an unofficial term for individuals—typically, but not exclusively, Soviet Jews—who were denied permission to emigrate, primarily to Israel, by the authorities of the Soviet Union and other countries of the Soviet Bloc. The term ''refusenik'' is derived from the "refusal" handed down to a prospective emigrant from the Soviet authorities. In addition to the Jews, broader categories included: *Other ethnicities, such as Volga Germans attempting to leave for Germany, Armenians wanting to join their diaspora, and Greeks forcibly removed by Stalin from Crimea and other southern lands to Siberia. *Members of persecuted religious groups, such as the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Baptists and other Protestant groups, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Russian Mennonites. A typical basis to deny emigration was the alleged association with Soviet state secrets. Some individuals were labelled as foreign spies or potential seditionist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Montclair, New Jersey
Montclair is a Township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated on the cliffs of the Watchung Mountains, Montclair is a commercial and cultural hub of North Jersey and a diverse bedroom community of New York City within the New York metropolitan area. The township is the home of Montclair State University, the state's second-largest university. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 40,921, an increase of 3,252 (+8.6%) from the 2010 United States census, 2010 census count of 37,669, which in turn reflected a decline of 1,308 (−3.4%) from the 38,977 counted in the 2000 United States census, 2000 census. As of 2010, it was the List of municipalities in New Jersey, 60th-most-populous municipality in New Jersey. History Montclair was initially formed as a Township (New Jersey), township on April 15, 1868, from portions of Bloomfield, New Jersey, Bloomfield Township, so that a second rai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conference Of Presidents Of Major American Jewish Organizations
The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations (CoP; commonly Presidents' Conference) is the umbrella organization for the American Jewish community. Comprising 53 national Jewish organizations across the political spectrum, it was founded in 1955 to develop a consensus voice among Jewish organizations, especially to the U.S. government. Along with the Jewish Federations of North America, Hillel International, and the Anti-Defamation League, the CoP is considered to represent mainstream Jewry in the United States. Since the 1970s, the CoP's chairperson is the American Jewish community's de facto spokesperson on international affairs. Mission The Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations (CoP) is the American Jewish community's unofficial umbrella organization. Its purpose is to provide consensus on issues, generally to the Executive branch (US), Executive Branch of the United States federal government. As of the 21st century, the Conference repre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
B'nai B'rith
B'nai B'rith International ( ; from ) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit Jewish service organization and was formerly a cultural association for German Jewish immigrants to the United States. B'nai B'rith states that it is committed to the security and continuity of the Jewish people and the State of Israel and combating antisemitism and other forms of bigotry. Although the organization's historic roots stem from a system of fraternal lodges and units in the late 19th century, as fraternal organizations declined throughout the United States, the organization evolved into a dual system of both lodges and units. The membership pattern became more common to other contemporary organizations of members affiliated by contribution in addition to formal dues paying members. B'nai B'rith has members, donors and supporters around the world. History B'nai B'rith was founded in Aaron Sinsheimer's café in New York City's Lower East Side on 13 October 1843, by 12 recent German Jewish ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Exodus (Uris Novel)
''Exodus'' is a historical novel by American novelist Leon Uris about the founding of the State of Israel beginning with a compressed retelling of the voyages of the 1947 immigration ship ''Exodus'' and describing the histories of the various main characters and the ties of their personal lives to the birth of the new Jewish state. Published by Doubleday in 1958, it became an international publishing phenomenon, the biggest bestseller in the United States since ''Gone with the Wind'' (1936)''Exodus'' special edition Amazon books description and was still at number one on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list eight months after its release. |
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 and additionally as head of state beginning in 1988, as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet from 1988 to 1989, Chairman of the Supreme Soviet from 1989 to 1990 and the president of the Soviet Union from 1990 to 1991. Ideologically, Gorbachev initially adhered to Marxism–Leninism but moved towards social democracy by the early 1990s. Gorbachev was born in Privolnoye, Stavropol Krai, Privolnoye, North Caucasus Krai, to a poor peasant family of Russian and Ukrainian heritage. Growing up under the rule of Joseph Stalin, in his youth he operated combine harvesters on a Collective farming, collective farm before joining the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Refusenik
Refusenik (, ; alternatively spelled refusnik) was an unofficial term for individuals—typically, but not exclusively, Soviet Jews—who were denied permission to emigrate, primarily to Israel, by the authorities of the Soviet Union and other countries of the Soviet Bloc. The term ''refusenik'' is derived from the "refusal" handed down to a prospective emigrant from the Soviet authorities. In addition to the Jews, broader categories included: *Other ethnicities, such as Volga Germans attempting to leave for Germany, Armenians wanting to join their diaspora, and Greeks forcibly removed by Stalin from Crimea and other southern lands to Siberia. *Members of persecuted religious groups, such as the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Baptists and other Protestant groups, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Russian Mennonites. A typical basis to deny emigration was the alleged association with Soviet state secrets. Some individuals were labelled as foreign spies or potential seditioni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prisoner Of Zion
In Israel, prisoners of Zion (, asirei Zion, singular: , asir Zion) were Jews who were imprisoned or deported for Zionist activity in countries where such activity was prohibited. The former Speaker of the Knesset, Yuli Edelstein, and the former chairman of the executive of the Jewish Agency, Nathan Sharansky, were both prisoners of Zion in the Soviet Union. In 1992 an Israeli law made the status of the prisoner of Zion official, however the status was in use long before. Historical background The phrase is taken from the first words of a poem by Rabbi Judah Halevi: " Oh Zion, will you not ask after the welfare of your prisoners", included into Kinnot. In the British-ruled Mandatory Palestine the term was applied to those who were persecuted by British powers. In 1969 an Asirei Zion Association was established in Israel. Most of the prisoners of Zion were imprisoned for their activities in the Communist bloc countries and in the former Soviet Union (and were also known for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Knesset
The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supervises the work of the government, among other things. In addition, the Knesset elects the State Comptroller of Israel, state comptroller. It also has the power to waive the immunity of its members, remove the president and the state comptroller from office, dissolve the government in a constructive vote of no confidence, and to dissolve itself and call new elections. The prime minister may also Dissolution of parliament, dissolve the Knesset. However, until an election is completed, the Knesset maintains authority in its current composition.The Knesset Jewish Virtual Library. Ret ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
